Past, Present and Moving On
by Zororules
Summary: Moving was the worst thing that ever happened,but now he's back. A new case comes up and five Saftey Patrol officers are almost killed. Something big will be going down, but who will win, good or bad? Chaos ensures. Please Review!
1. The Beginning

Chapter 1- The Beginning

X Middle School, his old school all the memories, it was where he had started out and now was back, not even giving it a second thought he walked on, head down reading the stack of papers that was his transcript. **_Crap_**, he thought to himself, _**not again I thought that I had finished with it.** _ Realizing that his foot had just kicked something, he looked down and noticed that he had reached the bottom of the stairs, looking up he saw the doors leading into X's hallways. Stuffing his transcript into his bag, he walked up the stairs and pushed open the doors. This was the part that he really hated about new schools, figuring out where the hell he was supposed to go even though he had attended the school had apparently been completely remodeled so he had no idea where to go. After wandering in circles for a few minutes he walked into someone. Looking up from the map of the school he was attempting to use he realized that he had walked into a girl, who was actually shorter than him.

" Sorry," he muttered quickly " but do you know where I can find the Safety Patrol office?"

" No problem," she said with a small smile, " yeah I know where it is, here I'll take you there." She walked around him, and he turned following as he shoved the useless map back into his bag. " I would take a guess and say that you're new here" she said, " am I right?" After glancing at her a bit uneasily he looked around, and pretended to be interested in the lockers that they were passing.

" Yeah," he said still looking at lockers, " today's my first day."

" Oh wow," she said, " by the way, my name is Meagan Sheltzer, captain of the X Middle School cheerleading squad."

" Cool," he said " my name s Cody Hunter, I'm not the captain of anything." She laughed lightly, looking over at her, Cody noticed the blush that was appearing on her face, letting a quiet sigh; he turned back and watched the lockers. He should of known; a lot of the girls at his old school had been like that too. She liked him, he could tell. **_Damn_** he thought while looking at the lockers, _**I hoped that this school would have changed or at least be different but it's the same as when I left just like the others don't think of anything else. Although she is kind of cute, but she is like the others**. _Cody knew that a lot of girls liked him at his old school, just for his looks, not for who he was. Thinking about it he could sort of understand why they liked him, he knew that he was arrogant but he didn't care about it. He had shaggy hair that was as black as night with some blue streaks in it, which fell just past his eyes, and electric blue eyes, to go with it. His build was average, thin, strong, a bit on the tall side but not too tall. His clothes were normal basically; he wore baggy black pants held up with a belt, a white shirt with a very high collar that went past his mouth, and a blue jacket, which was a bit baggy. He also wore sunglasses inside and outside, as they weren't very dark. Satisfied with his self-analysis he turned his attention to the door that she had just pointed out.

" That is your home room," she said, " you go there after first period, according to your schedule."

" Kay," he said, " after first period, got it." She smiled and walked down another hallway. **_Holy crap_** he thought to himself **_how big did they make this fricken school?_** Just as he finished that thought they stopped at another door marked in big bold letters, Safety Patrol.

" Thanks" he said as he reached forward to turn the knob and enter the room.

" Oh no problem," she said with a smile, " if you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask." With that she turned and walked away leaving him to go inside. Shaking his head, he turned the doorknob and walked inside.

It was a simple office, about 12 desks two in a row, with absolutely no one sitting at them actually there was nobody in the office at all. Although in that little office to the side with a door shut, there was a light on so he assumed that that was where Junior Commissioner Vallejo would be, he hadn't seen him in almost two years now. Walking over to the door he glanced down at the desk that he was passing, and saw a photograph of a girl with a man he assumed was her father and another taller girl he assumed was her sister, to young to be her mother. They all had black hair; the first girl that he noticed just had a black short dress on. _Whoa_ he thought to himself, _she's pretty cute, so is her sister_. As that thought was finished, he heard a door open and looked up into the face of a boy who seemed very mad. Seeing that this was the Junior Commissioner he put on a polite smile and reached out a hand to shake his, but his hand never came.

" Get into my office," he growled, " now."

" Uhh ok," he said slowly. He walked into the office, and heard the Commissioner slam the door behind him.

" What's the deal man? It's been almost two years Vallejo," he asked slowly.

" Don't give me any attitude," he snarled, " I know all about you, I read your file. You have quite a history to you and not just from what went down here and I don't want to have to deal with your crap, got it? I thought that I knew you when you were here, but I was wrong."

" Whoa man," he said softly, " I'm not like that anymore ok, and I've changed alright?"

" People like you don't change," he snapped " your file tells me a lot about you, you fight, you steal and do just about everything else. I don't want you back at this school but it is for community service so I'll just deal. This school is your last chance, if you screw up here you'll end up in a juvenile prison, so if I get any trouble from you at all I'll have Principal Folsom kick you out of here so fast, you won't even have time to say what. Understood?"

" But I haven't…." he started but was cut off by the evil glare from Vallejo, " yes I understand."

" Good," he snapped, "also I will be informing the rest of the safety patrol of your past and they will be watching you, maybe even tailing you. So if they see you do anything that is against the rules, they will tell you and you will be gone. Even if once they were your friends I highly doubt that they won't tell me if you do anything. Get it? Good. Now get out of my office, your desk is the one straight across from here, so I can keep an eye on you."

" Yes," he muttered to the floor, standing up he turned without another word and walked out the door back to the main part, sitting down at his desk he dropped his bag with a scowl and looked up at the ceiling. **_I should of know this is just like the last school_,** he thought grimly**_, yeah just because I did some bad crap in my last schools doesn't mean that I'm going to do I here, he didn't even give me a chance, man I hate that! I thought that coming back to X might mean that I would have some friends like last time I was here, but I guess not. Maybe I should just continue with my plan, or just get kicked out again, but I don't really want to go to prison… I'll see how the day goes; maybe everyone else will be different… I hope I can at least have my old friends back, here at X Middle School. _** Sighing deeply he glanced up at the door to where the rest of the safety patrol was walking in, first person that he recognized was Karen Tehama, an old friend but she didn't notice him or maybe not even recognize him. Then it was Joseph Anza another old friend, they had been best friends before he had moved, then they had just lost touch with each other. He walked right down the aisle until he was right beside the desk that Cody was at and then he just sat down at the desk beside him and completely ignored him probably thinking that he was a suspect or something. Until Cornelius Fillmore walked in, smiling to himself, they had been real close once as well they had ran together before they got drafted into the safety patrol, he waited for the explosion, but it didn't come Fillmore just walked right by him. Then he stopped right behind him and backtracked, looking closely at Cody's face, he saw a glimmer of recognition come over him until.

" Cody…?" Fillmore started and was cut off by Vallejo coming out of his office and shouting for quiet. The morning meeting was about to start and everyone sat down including Fillmore, this was going to be a long day maybe a good one though, he could tell already.


	2. Old Friends Reunite

Chapter 2- Old Friends Reunite

" Quiet all of you," shouted Vallejo as he walked to the front of the room, " we have a lot to go over today and we only have a half an hour before school officially starts, so let's get to work. First off we have a new officer joining our force well not completely new he was here about two years ago but he moved away and now he's back, his name is Cody Hunter and I want you all to keep an eye on him." Vallejo's gaze settled on him and it turned into a glare. Anza's head turned so fast Cody could of sworn that he hadn't moved at all, Tehama also whipped her head around, Cody just grinned at them. A grin which they returned very fast, feeling slightly happier he glanced at Fillmore who was already grinning and gave him a thumbs up, which he returned, just like old times. " His record is pretty bad and I don't want him getting into any trouble while he is here," turning his gaze back to everyone else, " second we have had a series of…" he stopped here because a girl had just come walking through the door with absolutely no fear and an very bored expression on her face. Cody just stared at her, he tried to find words to describe her, and all he could come up with was, _whoa_. He gave her a searching look, trying to see if he could read her like he could to other people, but all he could think was, again, _whoa_. This was unknown territory for him, he had never really liked a girl before, usually they just liked him and he would just ignore them, but he felt his stomach do a back flip when she looked at him with that same look on her face, although he could of sworn that it changed just a tiny bit, became more…. interested. **_Damn _**he thought **_I don't need this, I have enough to deal with right now… hey… hey… she's looking at me_!**

_Oh man,_ she thought as she walked quickly down the hall to get to the Safety Patrol office, _I am going to be so late. Vallejo is going to kill me, and Fillmore will flip again, oh well who cares. _Just before she opened the door she put a bored expression on her face and pushed open the door. Walking in was simple enough, she wasn't afraid of Vallejo or Fillmore really, so she decided that she didn't care at all, and then she saw him. He was sitting calmly in the chair that was right in front of her desk, looking very bored and haughty, but what drew her to him was the way his gaze turned to her immediately. They were just staring at each other across the room, he gave her a searching look the way he was looking at her, it made her feel like he was trying to see right through her, it made her stomach flip flop. _Whoa_ she thought to herself, _who is he, he's really cute. Hey don't start with that you need to concentrate on your studies and the safety patrol… what… whoa he just grinned at me! _

" Third," screamed Vallejo, " your late!"

" Sorry," she replied forcing herself to stop staring at the mystery guy, " my sister was late getting up and dad forgot his coffee." Turning she walked down the aisle past the guy, who gave her the same look, feeling her stomach flip again she sat down and stared at Vallejo.

" Ok well now that Ingrid has had the courtesy to grace us with her presence," glaring at Ingrid as he said that, " I will once again introduce our new officer, Cody Hunter, and… oh where was I again, oh right, lately we have had a series of thefts from lockers, gym rooms, even as far as shoving a person down and just taking the stuff. So far they have taken only taken things like lunches, books, projects and stuff. But Principal Folsom suspects that they will keep moving up to things like money and portable devices so we need to catch these guys. We also suspect that there are at least two people involved in the racket, so find out what you can and good luck people." With that final word Vallejo turned and walked away into his office, slamming the door behind him. As soon as they heard the door slam, Tehama, Anza and Fillmore came running over to him, he stood up and barely managed to catch Tehama as she flung herself into his arms and hugged him, nearly falling over he simply laughed, Anza and Fillmore joined in.

" Whoa," he said with a broad grin on his face, " careful now don't knock me over." Tehama released him and gave him a hard shot in the arm with her right punch. " Owwiiieee," howled Cody in mock pain, " that hurttttt." Anza stepped forward and grabbed Cody in a bear hug that almost lifted him off the ground, laughing Cody returned the hug and then shoved Anza away still laughing with him. Fillmore walked so that he was in front of Cody and grinned at him, grinning back they gave each other a brief one-armed hug and then shoved each other and that got them all laughing again.

Ingrid sat at her desk simply staring at the four of them, wondering what exactly was going on. _Obviously they know each other from somewhere_, she thought, _but where…could he be an old flame of Tehamas? Or what if he is here to replace me? Oh no what'll I do, I love the safety patrol…wait a minute… he's looking at me…he looks even hotter up close…wait what am I thinking he could be here to replace me! Don't look at him look away… but his eyes are so…perfect_. Forcing herself to look away she walked over to Danny O'Farrels desk.

" Hey," says Ingrid, " who is that guy talking to the others?"

" Oh him," Danny says excitedly, " he used to go here, back in seventh grade, but then he moved. Those four have been best friends since like kindergarten; word is that they were the best safety patrollers on the force before he moved. They were like a legend according to Vallejo, but then he left and the others were still great but not like before." Danny grinned at her stunned expression, " I'm going to try and get his autograph, you want one?"

" No," she said, " no thanks Danny, I don't need his autograph." As she walked back to her desk, she mulled over the information that Danny gave her, so they had been a legend huh? _Well that doesn't mean much, maybe they were good, but they might not be anymore. Well at least he's not here to replace me that scared me for a minute there_…. Sitting back down at her desk she pulled out her chemistry book and pretended to study so it looked like she was doing something. Looking up she noticed that he was looking at her again,_ he keeps looking at me…I wonder…no no no don't just smile and then start to study_, she gave him a quick smile and looked at him long enough that she saw him return it, she then looked down again and started to actually study with a slight smile on her face the whole time.

He had seen her go over to the red haired kids desk and knew that she was trying to figure out more information on him. He watched her go back to her desk and sit down with her chemistry book out. After a second or so she looked up and noticed him looking at her. _Uh oh she saw me…_ he thought panicked, _wait what is she… she smiled at me! Smile back idiot smile back. _Shooting her a quick grin her turned back to what Anza was saying, with a slight smile on his face. The bell rang and most of the officers picked up there books and left. Leaving the four alone with Ingrid.

" Damn gotta go to class," scowled Fillmore, " too bad we can't skip anymore." Grinning at Cody as he said that. " Come on, let's go Tehama."

" Ok," she replied, " we'll meet back here at lunch ok everyone." Cody, Anza and Fillmore nodded in reply and Tehama and Fillmore walked out, leaving just Cody, Anza and Ingrid in the room.

" What's your first class?" Cody asked Anza, while glancing unnoticed at Ingrid again.

" Chemistry," he replied faking sick, " you?"

" Chemistry," he said with a grin, " should be a fun class hey?"

" Yeah, it should," Anza said grinning back at him, " oh right, Ingrid's in that class too, aren't you Ingrid?" looking up from her chemistry book she glared at Anza.

" I sit in front of you, idiot," she snapped while avoiding looking at Cody, " great memory huh?" Cody laughed and her eyes darted over his features once more, smiling again she looked back at Anza who was looking mad.

" Bite me third," he snapped, " oh right sorry you haven't met Cody yet have you, Cody this is Ingrid third, Ingrid this is Cody Hunter." They both looked at each other, reaching out a hand for her to shake Cody gave her a smile.

" Yo, nice to meet you" he said smiling. **_Wow her eyes are so green, so beautiful… hey…hey remember no thinking like that…but she really is beautiful._**

" Hi, nice to meet you too" Ingrid said returning his smile. _Whoa his eyes are really pretty when you look deeply in them…. no…. stop it remember you have to concentrate on studying…. although he really is cute. _She reached out and put her hand in his, the second their hands touched she felt a jolt of electricity go through her arm. Her eyes shot up to meet his, and by the look of shock in his, he had felt the jolt as well.

**_Her hand had just touched his, just a handshake…but then why did that jolt of electricity go through my arm? Do I really…no I can't feel that way forget it…but it felt so good…_** her eyes had just met his and he looked deep into them seeing for himself that she had also felt that jolt of electricity go through her as well. They slowly released their hands, and just continued to stare in each other's eyes until Anza grabbed Cody and hauled him over to his computer to show him something. Sighing he pretended to be interested but was really thinking about Ingrid and her green eyes. Unknowingly across at her desk, Ingrid was also thinking about him and his electric blue eyes. They glanced at each other and stayed looking at each other on and off until the bell rang and they all headed for the chemistry class.


	3. Chemistry

Chapter 3- Chemistry 

" Chemistry sucks," sighed Anza as they walked through the halls, " I want it to be lunch time already."

" Dude, it's only like nine thirty," Cody said as he rolled his eyes, " you always want it to be lunch. How big did they make this school." They had just turned down another hall and started up a staircase.

" X is one of the biggest middle schools," Ingrid said as she glanced at Cody, " we have almost five thousand students, I think and we have every club and team known to mankind. We even have compost hills." Cody glanced at her and saw her wrinkle her nose at the last comment, grinning he turned back to watching the lockers again. Last time he had walked through X's hallways before he left he had felt empty and cold like there was a hole in him that just kept growing and growing, he had just lost his world and had to start again, but now he felt happy and that hole, maybe it was starting to get smaller. _**Ever since I came back to X I have felt happier and better than I ever felt at those other schools**,_ he thought, **_maybe it's because here I have friends that I've know since, like forever. Or maybe it's because now I've met Ingrid…. new that can't be it….it just can't be._** Looking up he saw the door marked Chemistry, reaching out and opening the door, he stood back and motioned Ingrid to go in first. Pleased with the result of her smiling at him again he walked in with a slight grin on his face too. Anza walked over to a table and sat down motioning for him to sit beside him, so Cody walked over and sat beside him, looking to his right he saw that Ingrid had sat down at the table beside them, shooting her another grin he turned to the front where the teacher had just walked in.

* * *

Walking through the halls was fine, she didn't have to talk at all Anza and Cody did all the talking until they started on how big the school was, she had to jump in and was glad that she did because it gave her an excuse to look at him for a second. _He's so cute…_ she thought as they were walking_, I wonder if he would ever like me…no don't start thinking like that…you'll only be hurt when he starts dating someone else also you barely even know him, don't just jump in or you will be hurt…like last time, concentrating on what you do have is going to be just fine, you and him will just be friends… even though I think that I want to be more than that._ Shaking her head to try and rid herself of those thoughts she realized that they had reached the classroom. Cody opened the door and then stood back and motioned for her to go through first. As she walked past him, she caught the scent of his cologne; trying not to look stupid she simply smiled at him and continued walking. She stopped at the front of the class to check the board for any homework that she didn't do, noticing that they hadn't had any she turned in time to see Cody sit down beside Anza, walking down the aisle she sat at the table next to theirs. Glancing at Cody just in time to see him glance at her, he grinned at her again and then turned to the front of the class. She looked up and saw the teacher starting to take attendance.

" Anza?" barked the teacher Mrs. Dustrong.

" Here!" he called out lazily glancing up and then immediately glancing down again.

" Blackstock?" Mrs. Dustrong barked out in her annoying old croaky voice.

" Here!" the boy sitting at the very front of the class called out. This continued slowly and a couple of people had put their heads in their arms.

" Hunter?" she barked scanning the room with her beady bird like eyes.

" Here!" he called out lazily looking up and then down, he and Anza were playing hangman on a piece of paper, he was going to win Anza had no idea what his word was. He continued to play not noticing any of the names being called out until; he heard a name that sounded familiar.

" Madrid?" shouted Mrs. Dustrong.

" Here!" called out an equally familiar voice. Spinning around in his chair he looked around until his eyes settled on one of the girls sitting at the back table. It was her, one of the reasons that made leaving X so hard, leaving her was one of the reasons his heart had ripped apart when he left. Seeing her again was painful, he could feel his hastily mended heart starting to rip again as her name came to mind, the name that went to the girl that had haunted his dreams for two years. Penny. She hadn't seen him, and even if she did there was no guarantee that she'd even recognize him he had changed a lot since they had said good-bye, under that big tree on the south side of the school, overlooking the town. He needed to look away, looking at her was hurting him, forcing himself to look at something else was harder than he expected though, turning his head he found Ingrid looking at him curiously. He tried smiling and figured that it turned out okay, because she smiled back, looking forward he pretended to pay attention, but was actually having a silent argument with himself. **_Penny…. I've missed you, but just because I came back doesn't change what I told you that day. Nothing can happen now, not after…. what happened everything's different now_.** He was trying to convince himself that he couldn't be with Penny anymore, but it was difficult when he started to remember all the fun that they had, had together. **_You were perfect for each other, remember you could always make her laugh or smile, you could always tell what she was thinking without her having to say a word. Seeing her again hurt, that proves that you still have feelings for her. _**

* * *

****

_He hadn't been paying attention. Why did he suddenly start paying attention when the teacher called Penny's name? Why does this even bother me? I shouldn't care if he knows her, why am I getting jealous? I shouldn't even be thinking about this…. but why do I feel a pain in my heart when I see him look at her…could this be…no it couldn't be that…. could it?_ Ingrid said to herself as she watched Cody out of the corner of her eye, he was staring at the board with a bored expression and glazed eyes, he was thinking about something else she could tell. _I wonder what he's thinking about right now…. probably about lunch, all guys are like that. _Pulling herself out of her own thoughts she realized that the teacher was putting notes on the board. Pulling out a pen she started to copy them down.

" QUEIT," shouted Mrs. Dustrong, everybody winced and shut up, " now I want you all to copy down the homework and make sure that it is done for next class! Understood?"

" Yes ma'm" came the chorused mumbling from the class.

" Hey bro, you think that you can find your way back to the Safety Patrol office?" asked Anza, " I've got to run to my locker."

" Uhhh I'm not to sure about that, this school is fricken huge," Cody said slowly, " I'll try though, if I'm not there when you get there you might want to send a search party." Anza laughed, turned and walked away. Cody was gathering up his books, and trying to remember how they had gotten here.

" Hey Cody," Ingrid started after working up the courage to do so.

" Yeah?" he said while looking up.

" I can take you back to the Safety Patrol office if you want," she said while looking down to pick up her books, " just so you don't get lost you know." He laughed lightly and she joined in.

" Cool," he said with a grin, " thanks."

" No problem," she said while smiling back, " anytime." _Oh my gosh she thought excitedly, I get to walk all the way to the safety patrol office alone with Cody…. I hope that I look okay…. hey hey hey not supposed to think about that remember, not jumping in right? But he's so cute…._

* * *

**Awesome walking all the way back to the safety patrol office alone with Ingrid, I hope my hair is okay, maybe we'll become close friends and then… no no no can't think like that not right now…. not with what's going down…. and yet I can't get her out of my mind…. I think that I actually do…no I can't…but she is so beautiful…**

After gathering all of their books they walked out of the classroom together, Cody having resisted the urge to ask her if he could carry her books. He asked her what cases the Safety Patrol were currently working on, as she got into a long explanation he smiled. **_This is nice I never did this with Penny, it was mostly just…. well kissing really. That's actually all that we ever did…we never really talked at all. Wow why did I stay in that relationship for so long?_** Seeing Penny walking down the hall ahead of him, **_oh right that's why, she is so beautiful…but if Penny is right there why am I walking with Ingrid…. this must mean that I like Ingrid…._** smiling to himself and looking out the window that they were passing he silently thought sadly, **_that's just not possible…. even if I really do want it to be._ **Looking up he noticed that Penny had just stopped at her locker, as Cody and Ingrid walked by her she shut her locker door and turned around, right into him. Looking down he felt himself tense up, this was the most contact they had had in two years, and she still made his stomach do a back flip.

" Oh sorry," Penny said as she looked up to see whom she had hit, " I wasn't looking."

" No problem" he said softly, he felt like an icy knife had just gone through his heart, she didn't even know it was him, or maybe she did but just chose not to say anything. Although when she first looked up he could have sworn that he saw something flicker behind her eyes, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. As he and Ingrid walked on continuing to talk about the Safety Patrol, he pushed all thoughts about Penny out of his mind and focused on Ingrid. But unknown to him, behind him Penny who had been talking to a friend had stopped in mid sentence.

" Cody…?" she said softly while looking down the hall at his retreating back.

Ok I know that it appears to be turning into a drama, but this is just leading up to the end few chapters. So please bear with me and I promise that the next chapter will have a lot more action. Thank you to Bluie for telling me Penny's last name. Thanks and please review.


	4. The First Case or is it the Last

**Chapter 4- The First Case or Is It The Last….**

Two Weeks Later

" Lunch!" yelled Anza with a grin as he walked into the Safety Patrol office with Tehama and Fillmore. Cody and Ingrid were sitting on their desks and had been talking about a band that they both liked a lot.

" Yeah yeah," Cody said as he shot Ingrid a grin, " we know that you're a freak for food."

" No kidding," Fillmore said with a grin, " all you ever want is food."

" You are weird," Tehama put in while giving him a grin, " try thinking about school instead of food and you might end up passing something." Everyone roared with laughter except for Anza, who looked a bit angry.

" Oh shut up," he snapped, and when they did nothing to try and stop laughing he shoved Ingrid into Cody and Tehama into Fillmore, Cody saw Ingrid falling towards him so he instinctively put out his arms and caught her ignoring the spark that went through his arms. **_Huh? She's pretty light, she smells good…what? Where did that come from?_** He shook his head and looked down at her, she just looked up at him.

Anza shoved her, and now she was falling, she waited for the floor to come up and meet her but instead she felt a pair of strong arms catch her. Looking up she saw Cody; he was looking down at her with a curious look on his face. She stood up, but they were still standing close together, and then they heard their radios.

" Calling all Safety Patrol officers," squawked Vallejo, " calling all Safety Patrol officers, we have an emergency. I need all officers to report to the cheerleader's shed, where they keep all their extra supplies. Immediately and no Anza, there is no time for lunch."

Anza groaned unhappily, and everyone tossed their stuff on their desks and headed towards the door. Cody looked at Ingrid again and then walked away towards the door after Anza and Ingrid shook her head and followed after him.

Walking outside they realized immediately how serious this was, there was a fire truck stopped across the field, where the cheerleader's shed was. All five of us broke into a run and made it across the field in half the time it would have taken them if they had walked. As we stopped in front of what remained of the shed, we just stared. Everything that was left was burnt completely black and nothing would be salvaged out of the remains. The roof had sort of fallen in, but there were some pieces of it still up and the outer part of the building was basically in one piece, but the fire had burnt a few large holes in the walls, it was like a box with holes.

" Whoa…." Said Tehama, taking in the scene of destruction.

" Double whoa…." Anza murmured softly as he glanced at Tehama, looking for reassurance.

" What…who…" Fillmore was trying to make words, but not a lot was coming out. Cody opened his mouth to say something but was cut off, by a loud squeal.

" Cody!" shrieked the same voice, and a girl came practically out of nowhere and flung herself into Cody's arms, he staggered just not falling. A look of shock was upon his face as he looked down trying to figure out who was hugging him. Penny Madrid was the girl who had her arms wrapped around him, looking over her head at Anza, Fillmore, Tehama and Ingrid, he gave them a curious look, as if saying where did she come from. But Anza and Fillmore were doubled over with silent laughter and Tehama was smiling and Ingrid put all of her effort into her bored uncaring expression. Seeing them he scowled and simply put his arms around her and pulled her off him a bit so that he could see her face. Seeing that it was tear stained he sighed and put a softer look on his face.

" Penny…." Cody said softly, " What happened here."

" Cody…" Penny whispered, " We don't know we were walking over to get some extra pom-poms and we saw that it was on fire. So we ran back to the school and called the Safety Patrol and then we called the fire department. And they came and put the fire out, and we've been answering questions from them ever since." She pointed to Vallejo, Danny, the firemen and Principal Folsom as she said them.

" Okay," Anza said drawing Penny's attention on to him, and allowing Cody to step away from her and closer to the others, " what was in there?"

" Spare uniforms, spare pom-poms, some banners, and just some extra clothes, I think that, that's it," she said slowly, " why, do you think that whoever did this took some stuff?"

" It's possible," said Fillmore, " then they could have torched it to get rid of any evidence, do the cheerleaders have any enemies or anyone with a grudge?"

" Are you kidding?" Penny said with an astonished look at him, " of course not. Everyone loves us, I mean we're X's cheerleaders! Who would have a grudge against us?" and with that she turned and walked back to the other cheerleaders.

" Oh please," scowled Cody as he rolled his eyes, " the cheerleaders have got to have plenty of enemies. And even if all of them don't, I know that Penny does have a few enemies. Right guys." Looking around the small circle, Anza, Fillmore and Tehama nodded their heads.

" So we have a fire," started Tehama everyone nodded again, " no suspects yet, because the cheerleaders are perfect." She said the last part with so much sarcasm that they had to smile.

" Ok then," Anza said with a smile, " how do we start a case with no suspects?"

" We search for clues in that." Cody said while turning and pointing at what was left of the shed.

" Me and Anza will go," he said while taking off his jacket, " you guys search the surrounding area for clues. Ok?"

" Okay." Everyone said simultaneously, and all of them turned and walked away. Anza and Cody having taken off their jackets they walked towards the remains of the shed, after being cleared to go in by the firemen they walked in slowly. Checking around, they could see that they probably wouldn't find anything in here, but they kept looking anyways.

" Cody," Anza called him over, " look at this, I don't think that the cheerleading team would have much use for a guys watch do you?"

" No not much use no," bending over to pick it up in a handkerchief so that if their were fingerprints on it they wouldn't be smudged, " it might have been dropped by the culprit, or someone else, maybe Tehama can check it out." Hearing a noise behind them, they turned quickly to find Fillmore, Ingrid and Tehama, looking annoyed.

" What?" Anza asked, " I thought that you were going to look for clues outside."

" We were," scowled Tehama, " her royal highness Meagan Sheltzer said that we should look in here, because that's where the clues would be."

" Whose she to tell you guys what to do?" Cody said curiously, " and why would you listen to her anyways?"

" Guys…." Ingrid said softly, trying to get their attention for something, but no one paid any attention right now.

" Because of Vallejo," Fillmore said disgusted, " he likes her so after she said that he sent us in here and went off to ' question' her in private."

" Pathetic," Anza spat out, " and he tells us not to get emotionally involved."

" Guys," Ingrid said louder this time, and with a bit of panic in her voice.

" What?" Cody said looking over at her and the others looked over too.

" Look up" she said grimly, everyone looked up and then nobody moved. There was a remote controlled helicopter, hovering above what was left of the roof. It had a large rock tied to the bottom, and looked like it was about to drop it.

" Don't make any sudden movements," Fillmore whispered, " if that helicopter drops that then…. well you know, it'll just be really bad." He didn't want to say that the remains of the shed would probably fall on them.

" Okay," Cody said softly, " it hasn't dropped it and it's been like five minutes, I don't think that the person controlling it knows that we've seen it." As he said that the helicopter moved a tiny bit, and they all froze and looked up again.

" Hey!" came a loud high voice, they all winced, " what're you guys looking at in there?" as the sentence finished the rock fell from the helicopter and it flew away, it was like in slow motion the rock fell and they all just watched it until it hit the last beam that was supporting what was left of the roof. The rock went right through it and hit the beam that was supporting one of the walls. At first nothing happened but no one dared to breath and then it all started to shake. As the roof came falling down, they all got into action.

" Run like hell!" Anza screamed as it started to fall towards them, and everyone did. Anza grabbed Tehama's hand and they ran out one side, Fillmore ran with his hands over his head the other way. Cody glanced at Ingrid who hadn't moved yet, but as he did he saw a huge piece coming down from the roof it was going to land on her. He ran towards her and grabbed her hand, waking her out of her daze they ran out of the remains just in time, as it all came crashing down. Collapsing down beside Anza, Cody was breathing heavily, Anza was looking at the ground panting heavily, Tehama and Fillmore were sitting on the ground taking deep breaths and Ingrid was looking at her hands beside Cody.

" Holy god," shouted Vallejo as everyone came running towards the group, " that was so close you guys."

" No kidding" snapped Fillmore who regained his composure faster than the others, " wow Vallejo you're a genius."

" Are you all alright?" Folsom asked looking worried, and motioning for the firemen to come and check them.

" We're fine, aren't we guys?" Anza asked getting up shakily and looking around at them.

" Yeah, no one got hurt," Cody, said softly, " luckily, though it was a close call."

After the firemen had checked them all out and pronounced that no one had been injured everyone went looking for clues about the operator of that helicopter until just Cody and Ingrid were left with the adults. He glanced over at Ingrid who was looking at the ground, she was shaking slightly, but the firemen had said that she was fine. He walked over to her; she was facing away from him looking at the school. His instinct was telling him to put his arm around her and comfort her, and make her feel safe. Taking a deep breath he went with his instinct and put his arm around her. She turned her head to look at his face, and then she simply turned and embraced him, sobbing into his shirt he just held her.

_I was almost been killed,_ her mind was screaming, _when the rock dropped it was like every muscle in my body decided not to move, if Cody hadn't of grabbed my hand then I think that I would have died. _She turned away from the others and stared at the school, replaying the accident in her head over and over. She heard someone walk up behind her but didn't turn until she felt an arm slid around her shoulders. _It's Cody, _she thought instantly knowing, without looking. Turning to look at his face she saw concern in his eyes, feeling her own eyes start to water she turned fully and wrapped her arms around him crying into his chest. She felt his other arm slid around her waist, and felt completely safe in his arms. After a few minutes they broke apart due to the fact that Anza was yelling for them.

" Hey!" Anza shouted, " Cody! Ingrid! Everyone! I found something that definitely doesn't belong here!" everyone came running over and saw him holding up a jacket with a stick.

" Does it have a name on the collar," asked Ingrid, she had stopped crying and regained her composure. Cody was standing right behind her and he just grinned.

" Yeah it does!" said Tehama happily, " it belongs too a… Derek West. Anyone ever heard of him?"

" Nope" answered Fillmore, " Anza, Cody, and Ingrid you guys ever heard of him?" Anza and Cody shook their heads, but Ingrid nodded slowly.

" He went to one of my old schools," she said softly, they could barely hear her, " he was a real bully, but he got expelled for something. I don't know what, I had already moved when he was expelled." Cody looked at her but she adverted her eyes to the ground. He got the feeling that there was a bit more to this story than what she was telling them.

" Okay," he said stepping forward, " now we have our first suspect, let's go find him!"


	5. Secrets Revealed

Chapter 5- Secrets Revealed

They split up into groups, Anza and Tehama were going to go and search the school records of transfer students, Fillmore and O'Farrel were going back to HQ to interview the witness on tape, and Cody and Ingrid were going to the library to check the sign up sheets for clubs and teams to see if West was on any of them.

Walking in the opposite direction of Anza and Tehama just with Ingrid, although his mind was completely focused on the case, he couldn't think about anything else right now. **_This is bad,_ he thought, _Jack didn't say anything about a fire, he said a bit of vandalism but not a fire like that…. damnit I need to talk to him about whatever he changed. How can he expect me to help him if he tries to have me killed? Unless that wasn't one of his men, but then who was it? What's going on? I am so confused_** With that thought he looked up and saw Ingrid also deep in thought, looking ahead he saw Jack standing there with Shawn. **_This would probably be bad timing but I need to know what is going on!_** He glanced at Ingrid again she hadn't even noticed that she was about to walk into a signpost. Reaching out an arm he caught her arm and pulled her towards him and away from the signpost.

_Why is he here? I thought that he was in a juvenile detention center, unless he got out on good behavior but I doubt it,_ Ingrid frowned at her next thought, _what if he came here and is causing all this trouble, I wonder if I'll be able to stop him? _Feeling Cody's hand grasp her arm and pull her closer to him she looked up at him curiously.

" Careful Ingrid," he said softly with a bit of concern in his voice, " you were going to walk into that sign post."

" I was?" Ingrid said looking around confused, " oh I guess I was, thank you for stopping me." She smiled at him softly, but to her confusion he didn't return it like he normally did.

" Hey Ingrid?" he said looking over her head.

" Yeah?" she said looking up at his face.

" Is it ok if you go to the library alone and I'll meet you there in a little bit?" he said still not looking at her, " I just need to go and talk to someone for a minute."

" Yeah sure no problem," she said slowly, " I'll see you there in a little bit."

" Yeah see you soon" he called over his shoulder as he walked away.

" See you soon…." Ingrid whispered softly as he walked away, shaking her head she turned and continued towards the library.

Cody sighed as he walked away he hated to leave Ingrid and lie to her but he really needed to know what the heck was going on. He walked over to Jack and stopped.

" Ok Jack," Cody said in a low cold voice, " what's going on? You didn't say anything about fires, you just said a little bit of vandalism but nothing like this! What are you thinking?"

" Whoa cool your jets kid," he said with a cocky grin, " we didn't start that fire. I wish we did but we didn't even think about it. We don't know who did it but we want to find out, maybe he'll come and work for us." Cody scowled at him, and made to walk away but Shawn grabbed his arm.

" Look here bud," jack's voice was low and cold now, " you're going to do what we want you to do understand, or have you forgotten what we said to you that day? Well have you forgotten?"

" No I haven't," he said softly looking at the ground, " but fires?"

" Yes now we will be the ones starting the fires," Jack grinned evilly, " your time to act will come soon, we give you a signal. And don't worry you'll recognize our signal, you definitely will recognize it." He let out a maniacal cold laugh, which made Cody shiver, and back up a bit.

" Yeah fine," he sighed, " you just have to keep your end of the deal."

" Of course I will," Jack snarled as he looked towards the school, " but let's get one thing straight, right here and now. You cannot turn us in or you will lose them, you can't bust us or you lose them and you can't back out or you lose them. Also I think that we'll add one more to the list."

" What?" Cody exclaimed looking quite frightened, " who? What're you talking about?"

" That girl that you were walking with," Jack said absentmindedly while putting a finger on his chin, " Ingrid Third I believe, yes, she will also be added to our little list. So don't do anything stupid or you'll lose her along with the others." Giving Cody another maniacal grin Jack walked away, Shawn glanced at Cody with an apologetic look and followed after Jack. Cody felt cold fear moving through his body, and he turned and started to walk back to the school, shivering the whole way. **_Oh no…. oh no…. he's going to hurt them…. what am I going to do? There's nothing I can do…. It's just like last time…._**

Flashback 

Roughly a year and a half ago.

Cody walked out of his new middle school, he had just moved here a few months ago from X. he preferred to be at X, but it wasn't too bad here. He saw three guys standing at the foot of the stairs; he only knew two of them. Jack Curtis and Shawn Roman, not exactly old friends just some people that he used to know. He was planning on walking right past them but the one that he didn't know; on Jack's right grabbing him and shoving him into a tree stopped him.

" Hey there Cody, long time no see," Jack grinned at him and spoke in a friendly voice as he stepped towards him, " it's been a long time."

" What do you want?" Cody scowled as he stood up straight wincing at the pain in his back, from hitting the tree.

" With that tone of voice it's almost like you're not happy to see me" Jack put mock pain in his voice.

" I'm not actually," Cody glared at him, " so do you want anything or can I go?"

" I'll get right to the point," Jack's friendly voice was gone now, " we've been having some trouble here lately and we need your help. See we want to go back to X Middle School, we had a slight problem there and we got kicked out before we could, well do any damage on the school that put us in detention so much."

" So what," Cody said with a scowl, " why should I care, that's your problem not mine."

" Well that's where your wrong," Jack gave him a fake smile, " I know that you want to go back to X and we want to go back to X. see our paths have crossed for a reason, your going to help us, whether you like it or not."

" Just how do you expect to make me," Cody snapped at him, but there was nervousness in his voice.

" Well, that is a excellent story, of how we will make you," jack looked up at the sky for a minute, " I know that you have a few good friends at X, like family aren't they? Well it would be a shame if anything happened to them wouldn't it?"

Cody just looked at him in horror, " you wouldn't, would you?"

" I would, you see," Jack reached into his back pack and pulled out a big envelope, " Joseph Anza, your best friend he's like a brother to you, and look here's his picture and address, Karen Tehama, another close friend like a little sister to you isn't she? And here's her picture and address. Cornelius Fillmore, another ' brother' to you is he not? There's his picture and address, gee it would be a pity if these fell into the wrong hands wouldn't it. Oh last but certainly not least, Penny Madrid, I believe that she is your girlfriend am I right? I'm sure that you wouldn't want any harm to come to her would you?" Cody shook his head; his face still had a look of horror upon it. Jack smiled at him with a maniacal grin and continued. " Okay. Good, now that we understand each other, you will do whatever we want you to do or else, unfortunate accidents will come about on your friend's lives. Do we have an agreement? Or do you want to lose your friends?"

Cody stared at him, a cold fear moving through his body, he opened his mouth but no sound came out. After waiting for a few minutes he tried again to say something and was successful this time.

" Yes…we have an agreement," Cody whispered still horrified at what Jack had threatened him with, " What do you want me to do?"

" Get expelled from this school with us and all the others until we are transferred back to X," Jack said with a maniacal laugh, " and then when we get back to X we'll raise a whole lot of hell. So let's get to it!"

End Flashback 

As he was walking through the empty halls of the school, everyone else was in class, he could still remember how scary Jack was when they caused school to be cancelled at that first school by spray painting the halls pink. Jack had gotten a few kids, and apparently they had never been a normal color since. Ever since that day he had, had a pain growing inside of him, mostly from the fact that Jack could betray him and hurt his friends anyways, but also from the fact that he had changed he wasn't a juvenile delinquent anymore. But because of Jack his record told anyone who read it differently, he wasn't completely sure what would happen at X when Jack was done, but he couldn't tell anyone or do anything to stop it, he was powerless if he did and he would lose his best friends. Also now Ingrid was involved, he hated that and he couldn't let anything happen to her or he'd never forgive himself. Looking up he realized that he had reached the library, taking a deep breath he put a bored look on his face and walked in to where Ingrid should be waiting for him. He walked in and looked around, seeing no one he began to get a bit concerned.

" Ingrid?" he called out softly, " Ingrid are you here?"

" Over here," she called back, " at the computers." Letting out a breath that he didn't know or realize that he had been holding in he walked over to her. Seeing her at one of the back computers he pulled up a chair and sat down beside her.

" Hey" she said without even looking up she was reading something on the computer screen.

" Hey you," he said putting on a convincing grin, " what'd you find?"

" Not a whole lot yet," she said as she glanced over at him her face was suddenly full of concern, " what's wrong? What happened? Are you okay? Your as pale as a ghost."

" Uhh…. nothings wrong," shaking his head softly he put on a real smile, " I'm fine, it's just a bit cool outside." She looked at him curiously, and he knew that she didn't believe him at all because it was actually, a nice warm September day outside.

" So…uh are you looking for Derek West?" he said hurriedly trying to make her think about something else.

" Yeah I am," she said slowly still looking at him curiously, " I can't even see if he goes to this school, everything is completely locked up. Unless you know how to hack into the main files then we can't do much." Glancing at her, he sighed.

" Move over," he said giving her chair a little push, " let me take care of it."

" You actually know how to hack into the school's main files?" she whispered urgently.

" Yeah, I picked it up a few years back from a friend at a different school" giving her a grin he turned back to the computer screen. It would take him about ten minutes to hack in, going through all of the passwords and such. Ingrid was silent as she watched him work away until, " ha! That was so easy!" giving Ingrid a wide grin he moved so that he was standing bent over the computer so that she could see.

" Alright," she said moving forwards so that she could type, " Derek West, let's see what you've been up too." After an hour of searching they had found nothing on him.

" These damned files are so messed up," Ingrid snapped getting irritated, " it doesn't let me just search for his name I have to go through all of them! This is so stupid!"

" No kidding," Cody mumbled his head was in his arms and he was about to fall asleep, until Ingrid smacked his head and with a grunt he sat up straight, " why won't it just let you search?"

" I don't know," she muttered reading through, yet another file, " but if we don't figure it out soon, we're going to be here all night!" Cody merely grunted again for an answer and pushed her lightly again, taking over the computer.

" Holy crap!" he yelped, " How many kids go to X?"

" I'm not actually sure," Ingrid said thoughtfully, " over two thousand I believe."

Cody groaned helpfully, " so we have to look at over two thousand files until we find his?"

" Unless we find a search engine or something," Ingrid said grimly, " yes we do."

" I'm gonna find a search thingy," he said with determination, " I don't want to read two thousand files."

" You weren't reading them I was," Ingrid said dryly, and he looked at her sheepishly. She simply smiled and put a hand on his arm, " don't worry, I have a photographic memory, it takes you way longer to read them then it takes me." He grinned at her, and then turned back to the computer screen.

**_Whoa her hand is still on my arm,_** his mind was screaming, **_who cares I like it. Hey! She's involved in this whole thing now…. that means that we could…. well…. yeah! I should definitely do something about this…. but what exactly?_**

_I wonder if he even notices that I'm touching his arm,_ she was looking at him but he was completely focused on finding a search engine, _oh well, something will happen when it is meant too I hope…._

" I'm thirsty," Ingrid said, startling Cody out of his daze, " I'm going to go and get a drink, do you want one?"

" Yeah sure," Cody said looking up at her, " thanks."

" Okay," Ingrid said smiling down at him, " I'll be right back."

He watched her walk out of the library and then turned his attention back to the computer, after examining the program for a few minutes he found the search engine. **_How on earth did Ingrid miss this? It was right here, strange maybe she's not so good with computers_**. He typed in Derek West and immediately a file came up, **_whoa this is a big file; it's going to take a pretty long time to read it._** He sighed and started reading, after about ten minutes he looked around wondering what was taking Ingrid so long to get drinks. Probably went back to the Safety Patrol office to check in with Anza and Tehama, he thought, although something was still bugging him about what was taking her so long, after waiting another few minutes, he sighed and got up to go and look for her.

Ok, what do you think? Hope you like it, the next chapter will probably be up after Christmas. Please Review! Merry Christmas!


	6. Tell The Truth!

Tell The Truth!

I don't own Fillmore.

* * *

The pops fell down through the machine, and Ingrid bent over to get it. Putting some more money in she waited for the other pop. _I'm going to tell him_, she convinced herself, _if I tell Cody he will be there and I won't be alone anymore._ Smiling happily at the thought of him, she bent over, took the pop and turned around to go back to the library. But stopped short and backed into the lockers behind her, because Derek West was walking down the empty hall towards her. He had an expressionless look on his face; he stopped in front of her. She knew that she had paled and was shaking, as he brought his hand up to brush a piece of hair out of her eyes. She flinched at his touch and tried to lean back into the locker was a mistake, his expression turned into fury.

" Ingrid Ingrid Ingrid," he smirked evilly, " why do you flinch at my touch? Are you going to run away? Didn't you miss me?" she stared into his eyes, she was scared, but knew the answer that he wanted. Slowly she nodded her head like a robot, and glanced towards the hall to the library. If she shouted for help, Cody would hear her but then he would come running and Derek might hurt him. That thought went through her like an icy knife; forcing herself to look back at him she saw that he looked like he was going to hit her.

" Ingrid did you take the exam?" he asked calmly, glaring into her eyes.

" Wh-what exam?" she stuttered, still not looking away.

" You know the exam!" he practically shouted, grabbing her chin with his hand, " the one that decides the future of people like us!"

" Yes I took it…" she whispered looking at the ground, realizing what test he was talking about, and then suddenly she heard footsteps walking towards them.

Cody having gotten slightly concerned due to Ingrid's lengthy absence decided to go and search for her. He remembered when they had been talking about Derek West; something had changed on her face when she heard his name. He didn't know what, but he wasn't going to let anything hurt her. He walked out of the library and glanced down the hall, where he saw Ingrid and Derek West, with Derek holding her chin like he was about to kiss her. The rage flooded through him like white hot flames attacking his insides, he was about to race down the hall and hit Derek, **_hold up, you and Ingrid aren't together no matter how you feel, she can do whatever she wants._** He was about to turn back into the library, when he remembered that Derek was suspected of arson, so he turned and started to walk down the hall towards them.

Derek turned towards the footsteps and saw Cody, realizing that he had to go he turned to Ingrid one last time, " don't forget about what we had Ingrid, and what happened when you beat me! If you do, you will regret it." With that he kissed her roughly, causing her to gasp with pain when his lips left. Glaring at her darkly one more time, he turned and ran down the hall. Ingrid just stood there shaking, until she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up she saw Cody standing there with an unreadable expression on his face. She realized he had seen everything, and opened her mouth to explain but was silenced by his finger on her lips.

" You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said softly looking deeply into her eyes, she knew that she was blushing, " but I want you to know that I'm here for you no matter what happens later on." She smiled, just him saying that proved that he cared for her.

" I will tell you," she whispered against his finger, he just smiled; she started to tell him but his radio squawked.

" Hey Cody," Anza's voice came through, " we found a couple of things, so let's meet back at HQ and go over what we all found."

" Sure Anza," Cody replied, holding the radio, " we'll be there in a little while." He turned and walked into the library with Ingrid following. They stopped at the computer that they had been on, but both scowled. The file that they were reading was gone, and the computer was shut down.

" So there was something in that file that someone didn't want us to read," Cody said as they walked into HQ.

" File?" Anza asked walking up to them.

" We found Derek West's file," Cody said, " but we both left the library and while we were gone someone deleted the file, before we could finish reading it." He glanced at Ingrid, who gave him a look that said thank you.

" Okay, well all we found was that he transferred here at the same time as you and some other kids," Anza said in a bored voice.

" What other kids?" Cody asked sharply, making Anza walk to his desk and back.

" Uhhh, here it is," Anza said running a finger down the list, " Jack Curtis and Shawn Roman. Why Cody? Hello…hey man are you okay?" Cody had visibly paled _this is it!_ His mind screamed at him, _if you don't tell someone X Middle School is going to go down in flames, literally!_

" I'm fine," he reassured everyone, " I just need to go and talk to Principal Folsom, I'll be back later." He turned away and walked out the door, not giving anyone and second glance. He looked left and right nervously all the way, he finally walked down her hall and thought he was safe he heard a door open behind him. He tried to turn around but an arm slinked around his neck and pulled him into an empty classroom. Jack and Shawn were in there, and he assumed that the person holding him was Jack's hired muscle, Derek West, he was right. West released him and shoved him into a wall making him gasp with pain.

" Going to the principal eh Cody?" shouted Jack, he was really pissed off, he punched Cody making him fall.

" No…no Jack I wasn't," Cody tried to reason with him, but instead he got a blinding pain, on his left temple. Jack had hit him again and he was wearing rings on his fingers.

Reaching up he felt the blood that was running down his cheek, Jack, Shawn and Derek moved towards the door.

" Try it again and I'll take care of your friends," Jack snarled at him, " everything goes down tomorrow, by five o'clock, there will no longer be an X middle school here!" Cody swore under his breath as the door shut behind them.

* * *

" Nice bandana," Ingrid commented as Cody walked into HQ early the next morning, he didn't answer. " What I was kidding it looks good on you," she said giving him a smile, but he just collapsed into his chair. She walked over and undid the bandana that he had used to stop the blood, when she saw what was under it a look of horror and anger came to her face.

" Cody who did this to you," she whispered looking down at him, " Cody?"

" Jack Curtis," he answered softly, " accompanied by Shawn Roman and Derek West."

" Derek West!" Ingrid gasped he just looked at her.

" We've got a good hour before Vallejo gets here if I tell you my story will you tell me yours?" he asked, looking into her eyes, she nodded slowly. So he told everything, how they threatened him and what they had done. She looked shocked when he finally stopped, he sighed.

" I'm not done," he whispered, " Jack is my stepbrother, so is Shawn. My mom married Jack's dad when I was really young, I don't remember that much about him except that he used to hurt me a lot. She remarried to Shawn's dad when I was about eight, but that didn't last either, he's okay though, I think Jack is threatening him too, Shawn's a good kid."

" Tell your mom," Ingrid said, " she can help you!"

" No she can't," Cody murmured walking to the window and looking out with a somber face, " she died, almost three years ago, that's why I had to move I had to go and live with my dad. She was killed in a car accident with her latest boyfriend." Ingrid was just sitting at the desk, looking sad. She opened her mouth but he stopped her.

" If your about to say what about my dad, save your breath," Cody sighed, " he doesn't give a damn about me. In his words, I was a mistake, something that wasn't supposed to happen. Just a drunken mistake, I'm just some kid to him, I live on my own he's a biker who still bikes around the country. He hasn't been to see me in about six months, he just sends money every month so I can live." Ingrid had tears running down her face, realizing that his life must have been so horrible. He noticed and just smiled, shocking her again.

" I don't care about him," he said smiling sadly, " my mom loved me, she said that I wasn't a mistake, I was a surprise, which means if she could go back then she wouldn't change how it happened. Now I get to hear your story." Ingrid sighed and stood up beside him.

" Derek West was once my boyfriend," she grimaced at the memory, " but we weren't very serious, he's just like me very smart and a model student. I beat him on a test and he turned nasty, we had broken up by then but he came after me and hit me for beating him. A backhand across the face, no one saw and it never got reported. My dad got relocated again and we left almost immediately, I hadn't seen him until just now. I heard he got kicked out or something. I'm not sure though." Cody looked shocked, as the pieces of the puzzle all fell into place.

"Ingrid," Cody said as he turned towards her, " I need you to go straight to Principal Folsom and tell her everything, and get her to call the police and the fire department. Jack and Derek are going to burn down X."

" What are you going to do!" Ingrid snapped, " I'm not just going to leave you!"

" I'm going after them," he said simply, " I have too, this is just something I have to face. Don't worry Ingrid I'll be fine. I promise." He turned and walked to the door, but stopped when she caught his hand.

" Cody," she whispered as he turned to her, " I need to tell you how I feel before you go, I think that I really do lo…." She was cut off by his lips covering hers, slowly her arms hooked around his neck and his arms slipped around her waist. They broke the kiss, needing air but remained in each other's arms.

" Ingrid," he whispered into her hair, " I think that I love you too." With that he kissed her one more time, just softly and walked out the door. She stood there letting what happened wash over her, and then she ran to Principal Folsom's office.

* * *

Sorry for taking so long to update. Hope you liked it! Please review! Next chapter should be up tomorrow! Review! 


	7. The End or Beginning?

The End, or a New Beginning?

* * *

Cody ran into the oldest part of X Middle School, it wasn't used anymore and it would be perfect for them to start the fire. He was right, at the end of a hallway stood Jack, Shawn and Derek with a ton of gas soaked rags.

" Stop!" he shouted racing down the hallway intending to stop them right then and there. They turned and Jack simply smiled as he dropped a match onto the gas clothes, they went up in flames instantly. Derek however ran at Cody who ducked his punch, but got the shove into a wall, Jack and Derek ran past him. But Shawn didn't, he pulled Cody up.

" Go after them!" he said, looking back at the fire, " I'll do what I can about this. I'm so sorry Cody, they threatened all my old friends too." Cody nodded, but in the distance they could hear fire engines screaming in their direction, **_Ingrid!_** **_Thank you!_**

" Forget it!" Cody called as he pulled Shawn along with him, " I knew it, and don't worry about the fire, the firemen will take care of it! Lets take Jack out!" Shawn grinned and nodded as they raced after the two boys, who ran as far as the big tree overlooking the town. They stopped and turned to face Shawn and Cody, who they obviously didn't consider a threat.

" Ha! Your too late!" Jack screamed, " we did it, X will burn!" Shawn tackled him to the ground, but they both hit their heads on the tree so it was just Derek and Cody left. They glared at each other until, Derek saw the police, teachers, Folsom and the safety patrol running towards them, and he knew he had to do something. He ran at Cody, pulling a knife out of his pocket, but concealing it under his shirt. Cody tried to move when he saw the knife but it was too late. Derek left the knife sticking out of his gut, and tried to run by him but the police caught him and handcuffed him for arson. Ingrid ran up to Cody who was just standing there, feeling a rush of coldness flow through his body.

" Cody!" she cried happily, " you did it! What's wrong? Why aren't you moving?" he reached down and pulled the knife out of his stomach, and dropped it on the ground, and his body crumpled. Everyone was yelling and shouting, Ingrid had screamed and dropped beside him.

" What happened!" the police were shouting, as an ambulance came racing across the field towards them. Then they saw the knife with blood on it sticking out of the ground, and Cody managed to whisper a few words.

" Derek stabbed me…. I'm so cold…." he choked out, looking at Ingrid, he felt like he was about to lose her, " I'm sorry, I'm sorry I broke my promise to be okay." Then everything went dark.

He was running, trying to reach Ingrid, but she was always just a few inches away.

" Bye Cody!" she called happily, " don't forget me!"

" No! Don't leave me!" he screamed but she was gone, he dropped to his knees sobbing, " why does everyone I care about always leave me!"

Suddenly he could move his hand, and his chest felt very heavy, he opened his eyes. Looking around he realized that he must be in a hospital room; he was connected to a lot of machines that beeped every few seconds. A nurse walked in and looked very surprised when she saw that was awake.

" So you finally woke up?" she asked walking over and taking his pulse, Cody nodded watching as she sighed.

" What time is it?" he asked looking at where his watch normally was.

" About three o'clock, in the morning," she replied still taking his pulse, Cody just stared at her, " you've been unconscious for about two days." Remembering what had happened he glanced down, and saw white bandages covering his stomach. He was still in his black pants, but his shoes were gone and he spotted them on the floor near the window.

" You know you're a very lucky kid, right?" the nurse asked as she checked the bandages.

" Why? I just got stabbed?" he said sarcastically.

" No," she said smiling as she looked up, " because the knife missed all your organs, your going to be just fine and you can go home, probably tomorrow."

" Oh, that's great," he said softly, he wondered if his dad was here, " is there anyone here, for me?"

" Yes, there is," the nurse said as she scribbled something on her clipboard, "a boy and his father are in the waiting room, hoping that you'll wake up. And there was a girl here in a black dress, but her parents dragged her home tonight, she wouldn't leave your side for the better part of two days." Cody smiled to himself as the nurse walked out, calling Shawn and his dad in.

" Hey kid," Shawn's dad, Chet grinned down at him, " how ya feeling?"

" Hey Chet," Cody grinned up at him, he had been more of a father to Cody then his real dad, " much better, they say that I can go home tomorrow."

" Sorry kid," Chet looked down at him, " you're not going home, your going to live with me and Shawn until your all better." Cody grinned happily and mumbled a thank you, as Shawn grinned. A few hours later, they let him go with Chet and Shawn, as soon as he got to their house; he fell asleep on the bed.

" What do you mean he's gone!" Ingrid was carrying a single rose, and was slightly hysterical, " where did he go!"

" He went with his stepfather and stepbrother, I can't tell you where they live," the nurse answered absentmindedly, " he will be fine and back at school within two weeks." Ingrid scowled as she walked out of the hospital. _I don't have two weeks to wait,_ she thought sadly, _I'm leaving after the Our School Didn't Burn Down Dance, on Friday. After that I'm leaving to that school, the one that Derek wanted to go to._ Derek and Jack had confessed to everything, and Shawn and Cody were off the hook, because they were only doing it to protect their friends. Derek had only agreed to do the whole thing because it might get her mind off the exam. The person, who scored highest on this exam, was offered a place at the best genius school in the country. Ingrid had won, and she was leaving X, to go to school three states away. She sighed, Cody and her had just got together and now she was leaving, she knew that they would have to break up. It was just too far, but she at least wanted to see him one last time.

Anza was at the door, just ready to leave, Cody was sitting on the couch, in shock from what his best friend had just told him. Ingrid was leaving tomorrow, tonight was her last night in X, and he wasn't going to see her.

" You okay man?" Anza asked softly, staring at him.

" I don't know," Cody, answered truthfully, " I want to be happy for her, but it really hurts."

" I know man," Anza mumbled, " look I've got to go, Tehama is expecting me to pick her up for the dance soon, are you going?"

" No," Cody sighed looking at Anza, " I don't think so at least. Tehama?" Anza grinned and waved as he stepped out the door. This was something that could change Ingrid's future, he should support her, but if he did, she would be gone. She probably wouldn't even come back to X, except for Christmas, until after college and by then he planned to be long gone. So this would be goodbye, Cody stood up and walked to his room and fell on to the bed.

The dance was in full swing, everyone was on the floor having a blast, except for Ingrid she was standing against a wall, wishing that she wasn't here. But she had come because Folsom was going to give a speech, just before the last dance, and she was in it. Anza walked over with Tehama, they were both dressed up in good dress clothes, and they each grabbed one of her arms and pulled her to the middle of the dance floor with them. Forcing her to dance, she sighed and went with it until the song was over, and then a slow song came on. It was 'There You'll Be' by Faith Hill, she sighed, now she was standing in the middle of a dance floor full of dancing couples. Anza and Tehama were dancing a few feet away, Fillmore was dancing with Penny a ways away and even Danny was dancing with some girl. Ingrid turned around and lost her breath, he was here. Standing a few feet behind her was Cody; instead of his normal clothes he was wearing a silk black dress shirt, with red flames coming up from the bottom, with black pants. He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. They danced slowly, their eyes never leaving the others.

When I think back  
On these times  
And the dreams  
We left behind  
I'll be glad 'cause  
I was blessed to get  
To have you in my life  
When I look back  
On these days  
I'll look and see your face  
You were right there for me

In my dreams  
I'll always see you soar  
Above the sky  
In my heart  
There always be a place  
For you for all my life  
I'll keep a part  
Of you with me  
And everywhere I am  
There you'll be

_This is goodbye,_ Ingrid realized sadly, _he knows, and he came to say goodbye. Cody, I'm so sorry, but I'll never ever forget you. I love you._

Well you showed me  
How it feels  
To feel the sky  
Within my reach  
And I always  
Will remember all  
The strength you  
Gave to me  
Your love made me  
Make it through  
Oh, I owe so much to you  
You were right there for me

In my dreams  
I'll always see you soar  
Above the sky  
In my heart  
There always be a place  
For you for all my life  
I'll keep a part  
Of you with me  
And everywhere I am  
There you'll be

**_She knows that this is goodbye,_** Cody thought, **_she knows that. And I can see that it is hurting her heart, because she really does love me. And I love her just as much if not more._**

'Cause I always saw in you  
My light, my strength  
And I want to thank you  
Now for all the ways  
You were right there for me  
You were right there for me  
For always

In my dreams  
I'll always see you soar  
Above the sky  
In my heart  
There always be a place  
For you for all my life  
I'll keep a part  
Of you with me  
And everywhere I am  
There you'll be

As the song ended, Cody looked down at Ingrid; she saw the sadness in his eyes. He took her hand and they walked outside, and walked over to the big tree, where Derek had stabbed him. Ingrid opened her mouth to say something but Cody cut her off.

" No, let me talk first," he said softly, " Ingrid, Anza told me about you getting the top score on that essay. The whole Derek thing made more sense then, he wanted to go so that he could have the best future he could. And that's why you're going to go, your going to be someone who makes a difference in the world Ingrid. I know it, and I want you to go to that school."

" But…that means that I'll be leaving you," Ingrid said sadly, " I don't want to do that, I just found you. I know that it will help me in the future, but it's going to hurt knowing what I gave up to go."

" Ingrid, you can't not go just because of me," he said firmly, " if you stayed, I would wonder everyday what would have happened to your future if you had gone. Your going, you have to, no matter what, you have to make a difference. So don't worry about me, just worry about yourself for right now. I can't promise that we'll meet again, but I can promise you one thing, I will never forget you. And no matter what the future holds for us, I'll still love you."

" I'll never forget you either," she whispered as he held her against him, " I'll still love you too." He finger was under her chin and he lifted her head so he could see her eyes, and he leaned down and kissed her softly. As they broke apart, they stayed in each other's arms.

" We should go back in," he said after a few minutes, " Folsom's speech will be soon and you have to be there." They walked back to the school, hand in hand. When they walked back into the gym they realized that Folsom's speech had already started and was half over.

"…. She has brought great honor to our school," Folsom said proudly, " not only with helping to save our school, but she will be attending the best high school this country can offer. And here she is, Ingrid Third!" Ingrid felt herself being pulled towards the stage, and Cody's hand was suddenly gone. She reached the stage, and was pushed up the stairs toward Principal Folsom.

" Congratulations Ingrid," Folsom beamed as Ingrid stumbled towards her, and Folsom pushed a plaque into her hands, " you've made X school very proud. I always knew that you would go far. You have chosen to accept the scholarship haven't you?"

Ingrid scanned the crowd, until she landed on Cody's face, " yes…. yes I have decided to accept, thank you very much."

" Okay kid," Ingrid's older sister Ariella grinned down at her, " make me proud, and make sure you do all your homework." Ingrid nodded as she hugged her sister goodbye, then she hugged her parents and walked outside to wait for the bus. She took one last look at X while she waited, wondering when the next time she would set foot in this town would be. The bus came and the driver put her bags down below and she went to the back of the line, so she could give the driver her ticket and get on.

" Ingrid! Ingrid wait!" she spun around as someone shouted her name, and she saw Cody running towards her, he skidded to a stop in front of her and held out his hand, there was a bag dangling from it, " sorry I'm late, I kinda forgot to buy the bag." He blushed and grinned at her. She took it and was about to open it when he stopped her.

" Don't open it yet," he said softly, " open on the bus. I want you to have a good time at this school, so I think that we should break up. That way you can date other people there."

" I kind of figured that would be it," Ingrid said sadly, the bag clutched in her hand, " Cody I still…."

Cody shook his head and smiled softly, " don't ruin the perfect goodbye." He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek and a hug.

" I hope we meet again some day," he whispered into her ear and then turned away and walked down the street. Ingrid got on the bus and opened what was in the bag. It was just a burned cd; she looked at it curiously and then put it in her discman and hit play.

" Uhhh, hey Ingrid it's me, Cody, just wanted to tell you something. No matter where you are, just listen to the song that is on here and remember that I still love you. So you'll never be alone, I'll be there with you." then the song came on, it was the song that they danced to. 'There You'll Be' by Faith Hill, Ingrid had tears running out of her eyes as she listened, she looked out the window as the bus drove through town, and saw Cody standing on a corner waving, she waved back and as the bus drove by, she vowed to make him proud of her, and she vowed to see him again.

* * *

It's done! Hope you liked it and do you think there should be a sequel? Review!


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